It was almost 2am when I finally opened the door to my apartment in Maranello. I wasn't feeling too tired to my surprise and decided to unpack and take a shower before trying to get some sleep. I had a day off tomorrow so I wasn't too stressed about not getting a great night of sleep. I regretted my actions immediately as I woke up on the morning my phone ringing next to me and I picked it up without looking the caller ID.
"Sofia" I said probably sounding like I had just rose from the dead.
"Hey, did I call you on bad time?" I heard Lando saying from the other end of the line.
"Nope not at all, it's just.." I stopped and checked the clock on my screen. "5.30 in the morning in Italy" I whined being a little shocked myself.
"Oh shit, I totally forgot you already flew out!" he hissed on the phone. "Did I woke you up?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.
"What do you think?"
"Yeah, just tried my luck" he sighed. "I guess I'll call you later" he then said.
"No no, just give me a sec" I told him getting off the bed and making my way to my kitchen. I put him on a speaker and dropped the phone on the counter.
"You sure?" He asked carefully.
"Yeah, I'm up now anyways" I said still fighting to keep my eyes open.
"So uhm I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am, I was such a jerk to you" I could hear Lando saying and I stopped what I was doing to listen to him. He sounded sad and heartbroken. I stayed quiet not really knowing what to say.
"I got your message" he then said. "I don't really know what to say, I'm just so sorry and it broke me to hear what I had done to you" he sighed and you could hear the pain in his voice. "I don't deserve you, you should be with someone like Carlos who does anything for you, the way he stood up for you that night made me realize that he really cares about you more than he wants to admit" I could tell it was hard for Lando to say those things. "I really am sorry"
"Lando I uhm" I struggled. "He's my best friend and I care about him too but not like that" I was not really sure how to answer all that. "And I forgive you but I'm gonna need some time and I think we should start over" I told him.
"I would like that, and you can have all the time you need." he said quietly on the phone. "I'm Lando" he then said with more power on his voice and a small smile formed on my lips.
"Lando" I began.
"I know, I know you need time but I just thought I would start just to trying to become your friend again" he told me.
"Fine. I'm Sofia" I got onboard on his sweet try to make things better between us.
"Nice to meet you Sofia" I could hear the smile on his voice. I couldn't help but laugh to the phone.
"So Lando, what do you do?" I asked him joking and jumped back to my bed.
"Stream and sometimes drive fast in circles"
"Oh I see" I laughed to the phone. "Where you at right now?" I asked him wondering when he was going to go back to UK.
"In my hotel room, just came back from breakfast" he told me.
"Still in Baku I assume?" I confirmed.
"Yeah, we aren't leaving until tonight" he explained. "Kinda sucks tho, everyone else has already left and I would love to just get home" he sighed to the phone.
"Yeah I get that" I agreed with the guy.
"I guess, we're just gonna do some sightseeing and eat a lot"
"That doesn't sound too bad" I grinned to the phone laying on my back.
"I guess not. What about you, what's the plan for the day?" he asked sounding little more energetic.
"I thought I would just lay here and maybe, a big maybe, go through the photos from yesterday" I told him. "And maybe even watch some Netflix" I added.
"Ambitious" he laughed. "Any idea what you're gonna watch?" he asked.
"Not really, I've heard about this one series about these idiots who drive around in cars just like you" I messed with the guy.
"I think I've heard about that too, gotta say that the cast is pretty good looking" he said making me roll my eyes.
"Haven't heard anything about that tho" I laughed and could imagine the face Lando was pulling.
"Honestly tho, now that you actually know us and what's going on in the paddock, I promise you that it'll be one hell of a comedy" he stated. "And I wouldn't be too surprised if it made you wanna hit someone either" he added.
"You are actually making me gonna watch it, aren't you?" I laughed.
The line went silent. "Oh, I'm nodding my head just that you know, I totally forgot you can't see me" a confused Lando explained from the other end.
"Better?" I asked as I turned the facetime on.
"Better." I could now see Lando's smiling face as he laid on his stomach on the hotel bed. I opened my laptop and Netflix after that. "What are you doing?" Lando asked shrinking his brows as he stared at me through the screen.
"Opening my Netflix" I simply stated.
"Why?" he asked already knowing what I was doing.
"You know why, to see some of this 'good looking cast' of yours" I grinned. "You're gonna watch it with me" I added and a little smile spread over Lando's lips.
"You're really gonna make me watch myself?" he asked laughing.
"Uhm yes, I'm not gonna watch this alone and I'm gonna need someone to explain me all this complicated stuff" I smirked. "Of course if you have something better to do..." I began.
"To be honest this sounds the best idea so far" he smiled and pushed himself up from the bed .I guessed he was going to get his laptop. "Okay, so we're gonna start at the same time, ready?" he asked after a while once he had gotten back.
"Yep" and we both played press.
--
"So this is basically a document of Danny with some other stuff?" I asked after three episodes.
"You need to me more patient" he answered laughing.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing, at least he is good looking like you promised" I gave him my opinion. "Must be hard to be teammate to someone that hot" I added just to mess with him.
"Oh wow" Lando placed his hand on his heart. "I'm hurt, but yeah it is very hard" he then added laughing.
"It's also pretty weird to see Carlos in black and yellow" I pointed out as Carlos walked on the screen in his Renault team wear.
"Yeah" was all Lando said clearly invested the series which made me laugh a bit.
--
A tear rolled down my eye as I watched the beginning of the episode eight. Videos of Jules rolled on the screen. I had heard the way Charles talked about him and how much he missed him and watching this, well it felt too familiar.
"You okay?" I heard Lando asking and turned my eyes to screen of my phone.
"Yeah. It's just so unfair" I said quietly.
"Tell me about it" Lando sighed.
"Does it ever scare you?" I asked and Lando knew exactly what I was talking about.
"It's for sure one of those thing I can't afford to think about but I would be lying if I said that I haven't" he said seriously. "If I was thinking about the risk too much there would be no way I could drive where I drive, but it doesn't mean that I wasn't aware of it."
I nodded and we stayed silent as we watched people talking about the young Charles.
Huge canvas saying 'Kimi for the president' conquered the screen and I let out a little laugh.
"Hundred percent agree with that" I pointed out and Lando grinned, but the good mood was gone soon again as Charles began to tell about Jules and their relationship. It was hard to watch.
Then things just got a little awkward as Pierre popped on the screen with his adorable accent. I could see Lando shift in his place and I couldn't help but feel little embarrassed. The day had been surprisingly relaxed til now. I mean I needed time to trust him again but the silent hanging out kind of thing suited us now pretty well.
--
"I love him" I stated as Kimi's face appeared to the screen once again. One more iconic interview to remember. I watched as Lando shook his head laughing. "I'm serious. There is no one like him, and in Finland he is basically a god"
"Yeah I can see that, aren't you all like that deep down?" he was still laughing.
"I mean you're not wrong" I shrugged my shoulders.
--
"Can we just take a moment to how Zak just called Carlos hot?" I asked Lando who had spotted the same thing.
"I know right" he was dying in laughter. "He's so gonna hear about this" he kept on screaming. I was pretty sure that he would actually die if he didn't stop to breath soon.
I couldn't help but laugh even harder as Lando's face came on the screen. He looked like a baby. "Look at you" I laughed.
"I don't want to" he said his eyes closed making me grin.
"Oh come on it's not that bad, you look like twelve years old but other than that it's fine" I pointed out making Lando growl.
"Look how Zak is already in love with you at this point" I said looking at the screen. There was no way I was going to miss any second of this.
"Oh wow, you're confident" I ketp commenting out loud as I watched Lando on the screen telling how he was better than everyone else.
"I'm just that good" he grinned.
--
"Oh my god" I screamed as baby Lando appeared on the screen again.
"I can't watch" I could see Lando covering his eyes with his hands which made my burst out laughing.
"Don't worry this is all about Carlos, you're just some random kid on the background" I pointed out as the fuss was all about Carlos.
"Thanks a lot" he said rolling his eyes dropping the hand down finally.
"You guys are so cute together" I said looking how two ex-teammates messed around with each other.
"Yeah" I watched as Lando looked the screen with a smile on his face. He looked like he was daydreaming.
"Oh look it's Daniel again" I shouted as the Aussie walked to the screen. "This would make a great drinking game" I pointed out making the Brit giggle.
--
We were now on the episode of Alex getting his seat on RedBull and I could see Lando getting little restless. I didn't ask anything and just kept watching. I was feeling bad for Pierre as he was dropped back to ToroRosso. I loved watching the old photos of the guys back from the day they had already raced against each other though, so it wasn't all that bad.
Soon I found out the reason for Lando's anxiousness.
I knew right away what I was watching and I could feel the pressure on my chest and the goosebumps all over my body. I really didn't watch this but I still did.I turned my attention to Lando who stared at his screen paralyzed. I didn't say anything, neither did he.
Seeing the interviews of Anthoine and all the clips of his amazing career made it hard to breath. So unfair. I couldn't help but think Pierre and Charles who I knew were good friends with him. The hardest part was watching Pierre touching Anthoine's helmet before walking away and then his interview started and he looked so strong. I didn't know how he did it. That was only reason I was happy I had watched it go down on TV and not on the track cause I wouldn't have been able to work or leave or anything after that. I could spot Lando's best friends Max standing among the other drivers and it was just hard to watch. I felt like I should've been there.
--
The tears came again as I watched Pierre speaking to his radio and once again later as he got his first podium.
For me who loved pictures, the one with Pierre sitting on the podium alone after his first win last year had always been and still was ranked really high. The emotion and the story behind it told how great he actually was and that photo was a masterpiece in my mind.
I did not know how he did it. Go through all that and he was still one of the most warm and bright people I had ever met.
--
A smile appeared back to my face as I watched Carlos laying on the chair waiting the news from the possible podium.The smile turned into a huge grin once Carlos got his hands on the trophy and was holding on to it like it was going to run away.
"That was a great day" I could hear Lando saying. To be honest he had been quiet for so long that I had forgot that he even was there.
"I can imagine" I smiled. "You guys look happy" I pointed out.
"We were, we had been working so hard for it" he said proudly. "And even though it wasn't my podium it was still amazing" he added.
"Yeah" I smiled. As the episode ended, I checked the clock and realized we had been binge watching the series for 13 hours. We had eaten in our beds and all that stuff, but we had basically laid still the whole day.
"Lando" I said.
"Sof"
"We've been watching this thirteen hours straight"
"No fucking way" he said jumping up. "I'm gonna miss my flight" he shouted as running around his room like maniac.
"Oh shit, seriously?" I asked him.
"Yes shit, seriously" he said still trying to pack up his things.